Chicago
The Permit Review Committee has approved plans for a new Welcome Hall and entrance to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry at 5700 S. Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Located on the Chicago Park District-owned lakefront site, the museum occupies the last surviving building from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The building has undergone several major changes since the fair, including a 1990s renovation that added underground parking and new visitor facilities in front of the historic structure.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Welcome HallRobert A.M. Stern Architects
Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the transformative project seeks to restore the North Portico as the museum’s primary point of arrival while improving accessibility, security, circulation, and programming. The design team began by studying the building’s original form and use during the World’s Columbian Exposition, when the North Portico served as an active entrance and visitors experienced the historic volume directly from the surrounding landscape.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Welcome HallRobert A.M. Stern Architects
Today, however, visitors enter through smaller structures added during the previous renovation before descending into an underground welcome area, with the historic portico no longer functioning as the primary entrance. The new project would reverse that sequence, restoring arrival at grade and reestablishing the North Portico as a more legible, dignified, and accessible entrance for all visitors. Proposed regrading of the north lawn would further improve accessibility while removing the elevated landscape that currently limits views of the historic facade.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Welcome HallRobert A.M. Stern Architects
The new Welcome Hall would have a low-slung, sweeping form designed to blend into the surrounding landscape. Set below the historic building’s plinth, the hall would feature a large central gathering space with projecting wings containing restrooms and other publicly accessible spaces. A continuously glazed facade with carefully minimized structural elements and a skylight would create an open, light-filled interior, while building systems would largely be concealed within the projecting arms to maintain the clean architectural form.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Welcome HallRobert A.M. Stern Architects
Connecting the new hall to the historic building would be a highly transparent glass structure designed as the lightest possible intervention between the new construction and the museum’s limestone facade. Featuring structural glazing with bird-safe glass, the connector would provide a light-filled and accessible route to the North Portico while allowing visitors to experience the building’s original ceremonial approach. The proposal would also carve out the center of the portico stairs to create an accessible entrance directly through the historic structure. Together with the restored historic grade, the new arrival sequence is intended to allow all visitors to enter through the same primary point of access, creating a more equal and consistent experience while making arrival faster, clearer, and more efficient. 
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Welcome HallRobert A.M. Stern Architects
Outside, the project would also introduce new Science Gardens between the Welcome Hall and the museum. The outdoor space would provide areas for public programming and gathering while remaining accessible without museum admission. Combined with the new Welcome Hall and transparent connector, the landscape improvements would transform the currently secondary entrance into a more open and active civic space while restoring the North Portico to a prominent role in the visitor experience. 
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry Welcome HallRobert A.M. Stern Architects
With Permit Review Committee approval secured, the museum can move forward with permitting and construction of the new spaces. A timeline for the project has not been announced.
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